Tradition and Experience

Not surprisingly, the transformation in Saul of Tarsus caused astonishment in Damascus (21) and Jerusalem (26). Among the disciples of Jesus, amazement was accompanied by skepticism and fear, which acted as a barrier to Saul’s entry into the new community. Once again at a critical moment someone appears on the scene to vouch for Saul before the leaders of the Jerusalem church: Barnabas “took him and brought him to the apostles” (27).

There is an important relationship here between tradition and experience. The apostles were guardians of the traditions that came directly from the life of Jesus; they had listened to his words and accompanied him through the events of his passion. They knew Jesus to be raised from the dead, the true Lord and Savior of the world. Saul had none of this, but, as Barnabas explains, he had seen the Lord and heard him speak; he had had an experience of the living Christ, which turned his world upside down! Later, Paul would reflect on his own experience as someone, in contrast to the apostles in Jerusalem, “abnormally born” (1 Cor. 15:8) as the direct result of a life-transforming experience of grace (Gal. 1:13-17).

Saul’s experience needed to be recognized, validated and ultimately celebrated by the apostles. Without this it would have remained marginal to the story. The apostles, too, needed Saul’s experience, as a demonstration of the truth and power of the tradition to which they bore testimony. His story provided evidence that the claim that Jesus was alive was indeed true, while Saul’s acceptance by the church prevented his experience from becoming a purely personal affair apart from both the believing community and the apostolic tradition.

Are you inclined to place too much stress on the importance of tradition–or on immediate experience? If so, how will you get a better balance between these two?